I only use imported Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, too, although less expensive Parmesan cheese is fine, it's just not aged as long, so it costs less..... Also, PR cheese imported from Italy has a different flavor - the flavor depends in part on the microbes in the environment.

Parmigiano-Reggiano comes from Italy and nowhere else

__________________Less is not more. More is more and more is fabulous.

I know. But Parmesan cheese can come from other places. I was trying to distinguish the two - Parmesan isn't as good because it's not aged as long and doesn't come from the same environment as Parm-Reg, but it's still real cheese without additives.

__________________The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again. ~ George Miller

There are more and more farms in Wisconsin that are expanding their cheese making. You can now buy Reggiano, Romano, and many other cheeses that only came to us from Europe. They may not be made under the same conditions, but some of them are earning medals in the Cheese Making community.

And because they are made here in the U.S.A., they are less expensive. I hope some of these cheeses become popular here. Our farmers need the help.

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Illegitimi non carborundum!
I don't want my last words to be, "I wish I had spent more time doing housework"

I had read a while back about how Wisconsin farmers were expanding into cheese making. My DeMoulas' has a pretty good selection of import cheeses as well as native American ones. I have seen some of the Wisconsin ones of Italian origin there.

The article was very interesting. The Italians are very protective of their products and take great pride in them. Thanks for the link.

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Illegitimi non carborundum!
I don't want my last words to be, "I wish I had spent more time doing housework"

I know. But Parmesan cheese can come from other places. I was trying to distinguish the two - Parmesan isn't as good because it's not aged as long and doesn't come from the same environment as Parm-Reg, but it's still real cheese without additives.

As I've just been picked up for inaccuracy - I'm sure you mean "Parmesan-style" cheese can come from other places.

__________________Donít look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Stomp along and switch the bl**dy thing on yourself.

When you said you threw it away after using it, I thought people who are not familiar with it might think you did that because it shouldn't be eaten.

(Sigh) I said "We don't eat it. I fish it out before serving and throw it away". In other words That is what we do in my household. As far as anyone else is concerned I don't give a damn what they do with it. They can stick it on the ceiling for all I care..

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__________________Donít look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Stomp along and switch the bl**dy thing on yourself.